Brickell apartment building attempted rape suspect arrested, police say

MIAMI, Fla. – Police have arrested the man they believe followed a woman into an elevator in Brickell, then tried to rape after forcing his way in to her apartment.

Miami police arrested Diontae Blackman, 23, of Miami, in Northwest Miami-Dade on Thursday.

On Wednesday, police released video from the building’s elevator showing the victim getting into the elevator with a man who is looking at his cellphone. The victim didn’t think twice about being on the elevator with a stranger, something she does every day, she told Local 10 News by telephone.

It happened in the 1000 block of Southeast First Avenue on Tuesday around 6:50 p.m., according to police.

The victim told police that the man, later identified as Blackman, followed her to her apartment after the two were in the same elevator.

She said she had never seen him before.

As she was opening the door to her apartment, Blackman pushed her inside and began to beat her. She told police that he had a metal rod concealed in his shorts and struck her several times.

The victim said that during the attack, he demanded oral sex and threatened to stab her in the neck if she didn’t comply. She also said she asked Blackman numerous times to stop and he slapped her multiple times.

The victim said he then he demanded that she go to the bedroom and while in the bedroom, he ordered her to take of her shirt and attempted to force her onto the bed. She resisted and the two struggled, according to police.

She was pushed to the ground, she said, and grabbed by the neck. At some point during the struggle, she told police, she was able to take hold of a metal bowl and that’s when the defendant left the bedroom.

The victim, who spoke with Local 10 News via telephone as police were searching for the suspect, said that she locked the bedroom door after getting away from her attacker, then went out onto her balcony and screamed for help.

Surveillance video also shows the same person who was in the elevator with the victim earlier coming out of the elevator and walking out onto the street.

Blackman was arrested and is facing multiple charges including attempted sexual battery with threats, armed burglary with assault, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping.